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FEAST OF THE DAY

St. Sabas was born not far from the city of Caesarea in the year 439.
Sabas' father was an officer in the military in Alexandria so his
parents were unable to continually provide for him. He was left in the
care of one of his uncles to receive his education but was harshly
treated. Another uncle heard of this and tried to help Sabas, but only
fighting between the two uncles followed. Sabas, wishing to trouble
no one, left and joined the monastery. He was well received, and the
monks helped to provide for his education. When the dispute
between his uncles was settled, Sabas was asked to return home
and claim his inheritance, but Sabas chose to stay in the monastery.

In the monastery, Sabas completely devoted himself to the practice
of virtue and worked to devote his whole life to God. At the age of 18,
after ten years in the monastery, Sabas requested permission to
make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. His request was granted and he set
out at once. While staying with some monks along the journey,
Sabas heard of the holiness of the monastic life practiced by St.
Euthymius and his followers, and set out to join them. Sabas was not
accepted because he was considered to young for such a rigorous
lifestyle, so he was sent to another monastery to prepare himself to
enter the acetic life. Sabas labored to apply his will more completely
to the will of God, and soon he gained renown in the community for
his practice of virtue.

Sabas was finally accepted to join St. Euthymius and soon became
one of his closest companions. After the death of Euthymius, the
discipline at the monastery became relaxed and Sabas retired to the
desert as a hermit. After several years, he began to attract followers
and a monastery was founded to house them. At the age of 53,
Sabas was ordained to the priesthood so he may better attend to the
needs of the community that formed around him. During his life,
Sabas was very successful in bringing people closer to God through
the practice of the acetic life and was renowned for his own holiness.
Sabas died in 532 and is commemorated both in the East and in the
West.

Yesterday's biography of St. John of Damascus mentioned that he
spent much of his life at the monastery of St. Sabas near Jerusalem.
This monastery was dedicated to the patronage of today's saint after
his death.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

To love God is something greater than to know Him. -St. Thomas Aquinas

TODAY IN HISTORY

1492 Columbus discovers the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean
1848 Death of Joseph Mohr, Austrian priest and author of Silent Night.

TODAY'S TIDBIT

The Advent Wreath is one of the more prominent symbols of the
Advent Season and it contains several major symbols. The wreath is
made up of evergreen to remind us of life that Jesus brings in the
dead season of winter. There are four candles in the wreath which
serve the dual purpose of showing the passing of time as the Nativity
approaches, and remind us that Jesus, who we are waiting for, is the
Light of the World. There are three violet, or purple candles, and one
rose candle, to show joyful expectation.

INTENTION FOR THE DAY

Please pray for the return of all people that have fallen away from their
faith.


The coming of the Messiah obviously has something to do with the advent of peace. But we need to examine the biblical notion of peace. For it is not quite the peace that some have in mind. It is not niceness or political correctness. It is not just the absence of armed conflict or “peaceful co-existence.” It is rather right relationship between people that flows from right relationship with God. Pope Paul VI said that “if you want peace, work for justice.” Justice, however, is not just fair laws and political rights, but the interior justice that the Bible calls righteousness. The world is obviously not at peace, because human hearts are not at peace. We are all pulled in opposite directions by competing desires and torn apart by loyalties to different gods. So before the Prince of Peace can usher in a season of tranquility and refreshment, the forerunner must come with his stern message of warfare. The enemies of peace will not just lie down of their own accord. They must be put down. Peace is a fruit of victory. The warfare, of course, is not against flesh and blood, but against sin and idolatry, the terrorists that make peace impossible. Hans Urs von Balthasar said it quite well: We must take sides with the truth against ourselves. The Holy Spirit that the Messiah offers to us will empower us to live in perfect harmony (Rom 15:6). But He comes not only as light, but as cleansing fire. In the light of the spirit, we must honestly and fearlessly look at our lives and give Him permission to burn away the impurities. This may hurt a bit, but His is a refiner’s fire, and His aim is to make us pure gold. This is why the joyous season of Christmas is preceded by a sober season of purple vestments, the color of repentance. The Greek word in the New Testament translated as “repentance” is “metanoia.” This literally means a change of mind or a transformation of thinking. Repentance starts with an act of the intellect whereby we allow our values to be more influenced by God’s truth than by the babble of the television. But a change of mind must lead to a change of life. John the Baptist is adamant about the fact that repentance is incomplete without action. “Give some evidence that you mean to reform!” he says to the pious Pharisees and Sadducees who present themselves for baptism. It’s not a question of earning forgiveness by offering sacrifices or doing good works. It’s about accepting the gift of grace and letting that grace bear fruit in action. Every tree that does not bear fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. Sterile fruit-trees are worthless. A “change of mind” without a change of change of life is no change at all. The world will not take any time out of the shopping days before Christmas to attend to these things. The true Christian attitude towards holidays is first the fast, then the feast. The world’s approach is first the feast, then the hangover. Let’s do it right. Let’s get everyone in the family to confession this Advent. Daily prayer is a must. Fasting from the din of radio, television and the Internet and greater time in God’s Word can go a long way towards driving out the darkness and burning off the dross in our lives. And try this little Advent custom. In our house, the crèche scene is set up early in Advent but the manger remains empty. We get some bagged straw from the craft shop. As often as anyone does a hidden work of penance or charity, he or she may place a piece of straw in the manger to prepare a comfortable place of rest for the infant King. The goal? To fill the manger by Christmas Eve. Dr. D'Ambrosio studied under Avery Cardinal Dulles for his Ph.D. in historical theology and taught for many years at the University of Dallas. He appears weekly on radio and TV reaching six continents and his books, tapes, videos, and CDs are internationally distributed. Information on his free resources, talks, CDs, videos and books is available on his website, www.dritaly.com. For info on Dr. D'Ambrosio’s 2005 cruise to Italy, visit www.crossroadsinitiative.com or call 1.800.803.0118. (This article originally appeared in Our Sunday Visitor and is used by permission of the author.)